Life after a dream
by The Night Mistress
Summary: Years after the whole incident with the British library and their plan to resurect Mr. Gentleman life has moved on. Anita is living in Japan with her sisters Maggie and Michelle as well as Nenene. Yomiko has become a teacher and teaches Anita and Junior
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own R.O.D. Tv. or the characters Anita, Maggie, Michelle, Yomiko, Junior, Mr.Joker (Mr. Carpenter), Nenene, Hisami, Nancy, Wendy, ect.

All other character names belong to me as well as this story.

Enjoy, and please R&R

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Chapter one:

Anita walked into the school carrying her bag over her shoulder nonchalantly. It had been almost ten years since the incident involving the British library, and their scheme to take over the world through resurrection of one Mr. Gentleman. Anita sighed in remembrance and turned when she heard a soft giggle behind her.

"Good morning Anita." Hisami said

"Oh hey Hisami I didn't hear you come up."

"Of course not you were lost in thought again, Anita. It's okay though I forgive you."

"Thanks" Anita said and smiled at her best friend before she began to walk into the building with Hisami at her side.

"How are your sisters doing?"

"There fine. Strange as usual."

Hisami giggled and said, "Anita you are so lucky to have sisters and people who are always there for you."

"I know Hisa, but they are a litte obnoxious at times"

Hisami giggled as they rounded the corner to home room. "So you have any plans for tonight Anita?"

"Yeah I have to work... again." Anita said as she sat down at her seat near the window, putting her school bag on the hook on her desk. Hisami sat beside her and did the same.

"Again Anita? Your always working and you and Ms.Readman seem to be getting pretty close."

"I hate her." Anita grumbled under her breath as Ms. Yomiko Readman walked into the room behind a stack of books.

"Huh? What was that Anita?" Hisami asked as she turned to look at her friend. "I wonder if Ms. Readman needs help with those books? I think I should ask." With that said Hisami went to help Ms. Readman.

"Another long day!" Anita exclaimed as she lay her head on her desk defeated.

"Anita?" a male voice said from behind her, making her sit upright in her seat quickly.

"WHAT!?" she asked exasperated.

"Umm... Good morning." Junior said shyly.

"Junior, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that? You scared me!"

"Sorry."

Anita sighed and looked at her friend Junior and a bright smile it up her face as she gazed into his eyes. She couldn't believe how much he'd grown since they'd met. He was a tall lithe boy with long silverish hair, and worn a solemn expression on his face.

Junior was a very withdrawn boy still even after his real mother Nancy had gotten him back and spoiled him to no end. It was amazing how he'd never truly changed from the boy she'd met almost ten years ago near the junior high library. He was still very smart academically, but lacking when it came to friends.

The first real friend Junior had ever had was Anita and back then for him it was all about business. He had worked for Mr. Carpenter retrieving books that contained the knowledge of Mr. Gentleman, but what he didn't know at the time was Mr. Carpenter was planning on using him as a host for Mr. Gentleman's knowledge.

When they had all heard this from Ms. Readman everyone was shocked, as well as put over the edge. Anita had found one answer to a terrible question of her past that day. It had been Yomiko's fault that she had no parents and she would still never truly forgive her for what she'd done.

"Anita?" Junior asked again.

"Huh, yes?" Anita asked. "Sorry I was lost in thought."

"It's all right. I just wanted to ask if I could sit here." He asked indicating to the seat behind her.

"You don't have to ask dummy, just sit there."

"Oh, okay." Junior sat down as Hisami was heading back to her seat, and Ms. Readman was beginning to write her lesson on the blackboard behind her.

"All right class today's lesson in literature is Poe! You will all select either a poem or a short story by Mr. Poe and write an essay on how it made you feel. Also why you believe he is one of the worlds best known poet's and short story writers of all time, and what affects you think he may have had on this world." She explained as she smiled excitedly at the class.

Anita groaned inwardly and chanced a glance at Hisami, who was already reaching into her bag to pull out a volume of Mr. Poe's complete works. Anita sighed defeated by her best friends love of books and then looked at Junior behind her.

"I'm going to love this assignment." she whispered.

"I too am dreading reading." Junior admitted sheepishly and looked down at his desk crestfallen.

"All right I will hand you each a copy of his complete works and you will begin today by choosing your piece of literature." Yomiko explained.

After she was finished each student save for Hisami was given a book and set about the task of finding something vaguely interesting for their paper. Before long the bell to lunch rang and Anita jumped out of her seat as fast as she could.

"Anita wait!" both Hisami and Junior called after her, but she was already sprinting out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note to readers:** All right everyone I love feedback on my writing and your comments (good or bad) help me write. I have trouble writing more when I don't get any feedback because I feel I am writing for nothing, but if you like or dislike it please leave a review. It will be greatly appricaited. Also I promiss more action as we get further into the story.

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Chapter two:

Anita sat atop the roof of the school sipping from a bottle of milk and heaved a sigh, as Hisami and Junior came up from behind. "Anita why did you leave us so suddenly?" Hisami asked.

"I just needed some time alone, sorry, Hisami."

"Oh it's all right, but next time just let us know." Hisami said and Junior nodded his agreement. Anita turned to look at the two and smiled happily.

"Sometimes Ms. Readman can be a bit tiresome." she admitted as she thought back to the day they'd first met.

"Anita are you okay?" Junior asked and closed the space that was between them and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Huh?" Anita asked as she shook her head and looked over to see Junior's hand on her shoulder. She blushed a bright red and turned away from him, trying to hide it. "I'm fine." she whispered.

"All right." Hisami laughed and Junior withdrew his hand quickly from Anita's shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, you and Anita just look so cute." Now it was Junior's turn to blush as he too turned away in an attempt to hide his feelings.

"Why would you say something like that Hisami." they both asked at the same time.

"No reason." she replied sheepishly and moved forward to look over the school grounds. "You can see almost everything from here."

"Yeah" Anita said as she looked over at her best friend seriously. "Hey Hisami?"

"Yes, Anita?"

"Your not thinking about how beautiful it is are you?"

"N...N...N...o." Hisami stuttered and blushed, looking down at her shoes.

"It's all right if you do, but it's not my idea of beautiful scenery."

"There is the park." Junior said as he pointed.

Anita nodded as Hisami looked up at them and then laughed. "You guys doing anything after school?" Anita asked.

"Except for home work, no." Hisami said shaking her head. Junior was silent as he gazed at the sky with a blank look on his face.

"Hey." Anita said as she waved her hand in front of his face. "You doing anything after school?"

"Oh sorry. Well I'm not sure I didn't discuss anything with my mother."

"Well all right." Anita said as she leaned over the wall and looked down at the students in the court yard, and sighed. Soon enough the bell rang and it was time for them to get back to class.

In class Anita and her friend finished their work quickly and began working on their homework. They were surprised when they heard the bell ring for the end of the day, and quickly began packing away their things.

"Well see you after school Hisami, and call me Junior if you can or can't make it."

"All right." Junior said as he packed away his books.

Hisami nodded and said, "So what are we doing today Anita?"

"Well my sisters are going to be gone today and Nenene is also going to be out so I thought we could hang out." Anita said as they began to walk out of the school and out into the bright sun.

"See you later." Hisami said as she and Anita went their separate ways at the schools gates.

Junior waved after her and then looked over at Anita. "Ready?'Anita nodded and they began to their walk home. Junior did not live with Anita and Nenene but then again he didn't live that far from them either. He lived with his mother Nancy and Nenene's best friend Yomiko Readman.

They soon reached Junior's house and they said their goodbyes before Anita made her way home to her house. Once she arrived there she took off her shoes and replaced them with slippers and then went over to the fridge for some milk. She stretched out her limbs as she drank and went to the living room , switching on the tv. She then sat down on the couch to watch tv before the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Anita, It's Junior. I'll be over in a little while. My mother and Yomiko are going out shopping for books today and I don't want to go."

"All right I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

"Bye." Anita hung up the phone and looked over at the clock on the wall and it read 4:30. "It should only take him twenty minutes to get here."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three:

For some mostl likely long awaited and I'm sorry. I had the dreaded writers block as well as some issues to deal with.

Enjoy-

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When Junior arrived Anita opened the door before he could even knock and handed him a pair of slippers. "Your late." she said with a small smile on her face.

"Sorry."

"It's all right but you had me a little worried."

"I got held up at the store when I was buying you this." he said as he took out a paper bag from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Anita asked.

"Open it." Junior said and blushed a rosy red, as he watched her take from his hands. Anita opened it and what she found inside made her heart skip a beat, it was a small frog plushie. Anita loved frogs and for Junior to have noticed made her a little embarrassed.

"Thanks..." she said softly and as flat as she could so he wouldn't realize how much she truly loved it.

"Anita are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Is it the gift? I thought you liked frogs because of the one I seen you walking around with, tucked under your arm last weekend." Anita's heart froze and her heart began to beat loudly within her chest. She didn't know what to say and having Junior stare at her was making it a whole lot worse.

"Why can't you just be like other boys?"

"What do you mean?" Junior asked and drew back from Anita surprised, wondering what she could have meant by such a statement. He liked Anita a whole lot but he wasn't ready to let her know just how much, so he was a bit thrown by her comment.

"Nothing really your just ..." Anita stopped and rested her index finger on her lip as she sought for the right word. "Weird."

Junior drew back from her in surprise and turned away from her. "What do you mean weird? Your not exactly normal either, you know?"

Anita laughed, drawing him toward the couch. "So what are we going to do today?"

"I don't know? I thought you had a plan."

"No, I was hoping you would have some suggestions." she shrugged, turning on the tv and flicking through the channels till something one the news caught her attention.

"Two people found dead in a freak accident, all books in their possession were stolen." the reporter said before going into detail. "One witness reported seeing a man on a flying dragonfly go in through the window of the home and then come out with a bundle of something. Later he identified the bodies as the owners of the home and confirmed the missing books. They were some rare and valuable books."

"Not again." Anita moaned, knowing at any minute her sisters would mostly be popping in to discuss a plan of action.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey I did it again! Anyways coming up soon is that action I promised. Please R&R!

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Chapter Four:

Michelle came barreling through the door first then Nenene, Yomiko, Nancy and last Maggie. "Oh dear did you see that news cast?" Michelle said as she walked into the living room and sat down.

"Yeah sis. What are we going to do about it?" Maggie asked, sitting next to her and looking at Anita. "Oh! Hey Anita."

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy!" Nenene shouted dropping onto the couch with a loud "flump". Her arms were crossed across her chest and she radiated pure anger. It was a little scary but something they were all used to.

"What do we do now?" Nancy asked turning to Yomiko before kneeling down on the floor. She then looked over to Junior and smiled. "How was your day?"

"All right."

"So no one has any idea what to do about this book thief? Anita asked, drawing everyone's attention to her and there eyes watched her expectantly."I didn't mean I had one!" she half yelled. "I'm still just a kid and your the adults."

Michelle sighed and stood up, "I suppose it's up to us then to make a plan and save the books." She sighed and looked at everyone else in the room."Will you all help?"

"I will!" a chorus of voices shouted in unison.

"All right now that that's all set lets get down to business. Anyone have any idea on anything?"

"Well we could call up an old friend and enlist his help." Yomiko suggested,speaking of Drake Anderson. She had worked with him in the past on many missions for the British library as well as their most recent battle against the British library.

"Didn't Drake get to see his daughter again and say he was retiring?" Nancy asked.

"Oh that's right." Yomiko sighed sadly.

"Anyone else have an idea?" Michelle asked brightly.

"Let me see we have three paper masters, an author, and two I-jin. How hard is it to come up with something!" Anita yelled.

"Anita?" Maggie asked surprised at her outburst.

"Look I say we go after this guy and kick his ass!"

Michelle frowned, "Anita, dear your being a bit melodramatic."

"So? Are we going to get this guy or what? I think he's an I-jin himself actually. I mean look at him?" she said rewinding the tv to his picture.

"How'd you do that?" Maggie asked amazed climbing from her place on the couch and to the tv.

"We have DVR and I recorded it."

"Good thinking!" Nenene half shouted,springing to her feet and holding out her hand for the remote. Anita gave it to her without protesting and happy she wasn't on Nenene's list tonight. "We can watch this for any clue to who this guy might be and like Anita said I think he might be I-jin."

"All right Nenene you can do that and I will gather us some paper." Yomiko announced getting up and moving further into the house.

"You'd think they lived here." Junior commented idly,looking over at Anita who was watching Nenene. He smiled a little as he watched her and when he seen her about to turn to look at him he turned to look at something else.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Anita shrugged and turned back to watch Nenene as everyone else got up and went about some task or another. Maggie was the last to get up from her spot on the floor and walk off. "So what are you looking for exactly?"

"Well if they're I-jin then they will resemble someone from history, and if I can recognize him then it will be easier to find him."

"Good luck with that." Anita said and turned away from Nenene to look at Junior. "So got any ideas on what we can do?"

"Well we'll need to miss some school,so we should write a letter explaining out leave of absence. Not the truth but a believable lie."

"Good idea!" Anita shouted. "... Ummm... Junior, what are we going to write?"

"I'll write it and you just get one of your sisters to sign it."

"Okay, I can do that."

Junior laughed a little and reached to pull Anita into a friendly hug and stopped himself in mid reach. He covered it up by grabbing a pad of paper on the coffee table. "I'll just write it on this first. Sort of a rough draft."

Anita stared at him confused for a few seconds before she answered, "All right. Are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure."

"Yes."

"Okay if you say so." she shrugged and walked away from him so he could have some peace why he thought.

Anita went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of milk and began to drink out of it, hoping Nenene didn't catch her. She heard a noise coming toward her and quickly closed the milk and put it back in the fridge only to see that it was Junior. "You had me scared!"

"Why?" he asked taken aback.

"I thought you were Nenene!"

"Oh, you were drinking out of the bottle again weren't you."

"Yeah and what of it?"

"Nothing just saying."

Anita sighed and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and flopped down into it. "Sorry."

"It's all right, Anita." he said and pulled out a chair opposite of her and sat down. His hair fell into his eyes then and Anita bent over to brush it away instantly. His heart thudded in his chest loudly, making him pull away from her.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, I was just uncomfortable. Sorry."

"I told you not to keep saying that."

"Right, sorry."

Anita glared at him then and shook her head. "Your hopeless!"

Her comment made Junior smile meekly as he waited for her to say more, knowing that Anita could have a temper at times. When she didn't say any more he said, "I finished the notes." He handed over a small piece of paper with really good penmanship.

"I envy your writing."

"It's just writing."

"Yeah but mine is chicken scratch compared to yours!" she sighed loudly and laid her head on the table.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the long wait... A lot of stuff has happened. One being my internet sucks and wouldn't let me on. Two My computer crashed, erasing all my work Anyways here you are. Feel free to bother me anytime too.

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Chapter Five

The rest of the night had past in relative silence, seeing as how everyone was busy trying to figure out who was behind the heinous acts of book theft. Anita and Junior were becoming very bored in the kitchen and after the note had been recopied ,by Junior of course, the two couldn't think of anything to do.

"We could help?" Junior asked.

"No, we'd probably be in the way on this one." Anita admitted, slumping down in her chair, and folding her arms on the table, resting her head on them.

"Yeah, maybe your right."

"I'm tired."

Junior looked at her bewildered. "Already?"

Anita nodded her head that still rested atop her arms, pushed herself up in the chair, bringing her arms behind her head and yawning. "It was a busy day at school and now this. We'll need to get as much rest as we can so we can wake them all up." She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the others in the living room.

"I suppose your right, but..." Junior trailed off looking at Anita and turning away as a pink blush crossed his pale cheeks.

Anita studied him queerly, reaching across the table. "Now what's wrong?" she half sighed, half whined.

"Nothing."

"You keep saying that but then you act all weird."

"Weird?" Junior made the word a question, turning his head slightly to gaze at Anita from behind a veil of his hair. It was very breath taking and now it was Anita's turn to turn away.

"Yeah, you keep acting as if your sick or something." her voice was soft and a little breathy, not at all like her usual voice.

Junior shook his head and realized Anita couldn't see it, seeing as how Anita was now staring at a spot on the floor and seemed to be counting, so he said. "I'm fine. I promise, Anita."

"Okay I'll believe you for now, but if you keep acting like this I'm going to have to do something. Maybe it'll be drastic." her face went very serious as she brought up her head to gaze at him.

"Drastic?" Juniors face fell and he pushed himself back from the table in his chair, almost falling onto the floor in his haste.

Anita began to laugh, her hands on her upper thighs, shaking her head. "Junior, you need to be more careful." she managed to say between fits of laughter. Her face was beging to turn red from laughing so much.

"What's so funny?" he asked her,wondering if she'd suddenly gone mad.

"You, almost falling." Anita admitted, as she fought to pull herself together.

"I don't see how that can be funny." he frowned , sighing heavily. "I think your over tired."

"Maybe, that would explain a lot." she admitted.

They both lapsed into silence for awhile before Michelle came into the room for something to drink. "Is something going on in here?" she asked them with feigned innocence.

"No!" Anita answered too quickly, shutting her mouth when she realized her mistake. She crossed her arms over her chest, a habit of hers when she was upset, and stared at the far wall.

Junior on the other hand wasn't really used to Michelle's teasing and sisterly way's so he was at a loss for what was going on, so he changed the subject. "Did you find out who the book thief is yet?"

"No." Michelle admitted meekly,hanging her head in despair. "So far I've compared the thief's picture with fifty or so people in history but none match." she pouted. "I just don't know! How are we supposed to catch him if we don't know who he is or how to track him!" she started shouting, hands on her face and shaking her head back and forth.

Anita and Junior both exchanged a look before they got up from the table and headed into the all too quite living room. Anita went back to her place on the couch, and began to flip through the pages of a book that had been left open, and that's when she spotted a picture that looked all too familiar. "Junior? " she asked, closing the book with her finger holding the page, so she didn't loose it.

"Yes?"

"Does this look familiar to you?" she asked reopening the book and holding it out for him to look at, rising enough on the sofa to see over his shoulder.

Junior's eyes widened slightly, not believing that what the others had spent hours searching for Anita had found by accident. He took a deep breath before he answered. "Yes, it's the book thief." he nodded as he spoke.

"That's what I thought." Anita half whispered, as their eyes met.

"Anita?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a problem though."

Anita tilted her head to one side and regarded him curiously. "What's that?"

"He's a twin. How do we know it's his I-jin and not his twins?"

Anita froze at first and then she shook her head, clearing it. "Then again what if they're both in on this. You know working together?"

"That's a possibility. Maybe we should show the others?" he proposed.

Anita nodded, "Hey everyone Junior and I found him!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at them. It was Yomiko who spoke first, as she adjusted her glasses. "That's great!"

"Yeah, Anita. I was beginning to think we'd never find him." Maggie admitted, hanging her head.

"About time!" Nenene added grumpily,pushing her pile of books away from her.

Nancy just nodded, smiling proudly at her son, as Michelle came into the room and took the book from Anita, reading,

"_Berenguer Ramon II count of Barcelona, son of Berenguer Ramon I. He initially ruled with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II. _

_He was born in 1053 or 1054, and succeeded his father with his brother Ramon Berenguer II as CO-ruler in 1075. The twin failed to agree and dived their possessions between them, against the will of their father. Ramon Berenguer was killed while hunting in 1082 on December the fifth. Berenguer Ramon became the sole ruler of Catalina for the next four years He is believed to have planned his brothers death. This suspicion as well as divided loyalties led to civil war. After the war he was made to rule with his brother's four year old son until he became of age."_

"Well I guess that explains a lot." Nenene announced dryly, rolling her eyes.

"She does have a point." Michelle agreed.

Everyone else just nodded feeling the heaviness of fatigue weighing down on their bodies. "Maybe we should get some sleep." Yomiko suggested, stretching out her limbs and yawning.

"You think." Anita piped in, eyes heavy.

"I think it's best everyone stay here tonight. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. " Michelle suggested.

"Yeah, but Michelle where will everyone sleep?" Maggie asked, looking around them, and thinking there wasn't any room upstairs.

"In here silly! You know we can have a sleep over!" Michelle replied spinning around happily, and grabbing Junior.

"You let him go!" Anita yelled, grabbing a hold of Michelle in an attempt to tear her off of him.

"But Anita I'm just having fun."

"No your being annoying!"

"Enough!" Nenene announced, swiping her hand through the air for emphasis. "I'm tired and either you all go to sleep or you can leave." and with that said she made her way up to her room.

"She may not be too cheery but in a way Nenene's right, you know. We need to sleep before the sun comes up." Yomiko agreed, curling up on the floor.

Nancy nodded again. "Junior, is this all right with you?"

"Yes."

"All right then we'll stay." Nancy declared happily selecting a place on the floor by Yomiko.

"Well I guess here is as good as any?" Junior shrugged, laying down on the floor where he'd been standing only moments before. "Night, Anita."

"Night, Junior."

"Night everyone!" Michelle declared happily again and set off for her room with Anita in tow.

Once in there room Anita grabbed her stuffed frog,laid on her bed and preparing to give herself up to sleep. She had one last thought of Junior before she was finally taken to the fantastical world of dreams where anything could happen, but then again it was somewhat the same for her life too.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's chapter six. Enjoy! I'm going to try and write a lot more but I can't promise anything.

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Chapter six:

The next morning day was gray and dismal, promising rain. Anita awoke to the sound of a phone ringing and a loud "THUMP!" to her left. She jumped up in her bed, and looked around bewildered. That's when she noticed that Michelle was missing from her bed, and her bedding was half off the bed. "Michelle?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, as the sound of footsteps thundered toward them.

"Anita?" the sound came out muffled from the other side of Michelle's bed, as the remaining bedding on the bed rustled before it floated down off the bed, and onto the floor.

Anita crawled across her bed and half jumped onto Michelle's bed, laying down across it to peer over the edge. The sight on the other side made her giggle slightly. Michelle lay on the floor tangled in her covers, only the right side of her face visible. "How'd you do that?"

"I went to go answer the phone, and then I was here." Michelle hung her head as Maggie, Nenene, Lucy, Yomiko, and Junior stuck their heads into the door, trying to see what had caused the loud banging.

Yomiko was the first to laugh for the new comers, starting a chain reaction that ended with Junior, who didn't laugh as loud as the rest or as long. "Is she all right?" he asked, eyes sliding to Anita laying across Michelle's bed, her hair a sleep tousled mess. He tore his eyes away from her before she noticed he was looking at her. His cheeks burned a slight pink, however, giving him away.

Anita's eyes moved from Michelle and found Junior, making her heart leap suddenly. Her throat went slightly dry, and that's when she noticed her hair was a mess, and she'd just woken up. She hadn't even brushed her teeth yet. She hurriedly climbed across the remainder of Michelle's bed, falling to the floor beside Michelle in her haste, and scurrying out the door before anyone could ask her what was wrong. She ended up in the bathroom with the door shut tightly behind her.

She looked quickly in the mirror cursing Michelle and her clumsiness under her breath. She let herself sink down next to the tub for a moment to collect herself and that's when she realized she was alone in the bathroom in the morning for the first time, normally she'd be in here with her sisters, brushing her teeth and preparing for the day ahead. Suddenly she felt oddly alone and even more embarrassed.

She took a deep breath, putting her hands on the floor,pushing herself to her feet. She took out her brush, brushing her unruly hair into a presentable place, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She looked in the mirror one more time, feeling satisfied she didn't look like a bum any more she walked out of the bathroom.

When she returned to her room everyone except Junior had dissipated. "Anita, are you all right?" he asked his face full of genuine concern, and this made her even more embarrassed. She wondered what she should say to him. What wouldn't sound stupid and what would be believable, yet something she'd feel comfortable telling him. She found herself blushing and her throat was a little tight, so she nodded her head. "I'd thought you were going to throw up or something, the way you ran out of here." he blushed because that wasn't exactly what he'd thought at first, but he knew he'd never tell her that he had to go pee, so he lied.

"I'm okay." Anita managed to mutter, as she made her way across the small cluttered room to her clothes. She picked out a simple outfit of a T-shirt and jeans. She turned so she was looking at Junior now, willing him to leave for a moment and let her gather herself together, however, he just stood there so she was forced to say something. "I think I'm going to change now."

"OH! Right." Junior blushed again a bright rosy red, hand behind his head and an embarrassed smile on his face. "I'll see you downstairs when your done?" he made it a question as he began to turn, feeling stupid for not getting the hint when she'd grabbed her clothes.

Anita nodded as she said, "Yes." and shut the door after him. She was relieved to be alone and able to dress in peace. She was still unsure of what to do about Junior. She thought about asking one of her sister but wondered if they'd either tease her, give her some nonsense advice from one of their books, or be of no help what so every. She sighed, slumping down on her unmade bed and grabbing her stuffed frog who always seemed to make her feel better.

Meanwhile Junior waiting in living room, pacing back and forth before the couches, wondering if Anita thought he was foolish. He occasionally looked up at the stairs every now and again to see if she was coming down them, but each time was a disappointment so far. He sighed as his thoughts reeled.

"_I hope Anita doesn't think I'm stupid! What if she doesn't like me the way I like her? She's pretty... What am I going to do? How can I tell her how I feel without making her feel uncomfortable or worse..." _he groaned to himself as the first crick on the stair caught his attention, turning his whole body to watch as Anita descended the stairs. To him she looked like an angel in disguise who'd fallen to earth after loosing it's wings. Sure Anita could be a bit troublesome and disagreeable but it made him like her all the more. She was a strong girl who'd been through a lot in his life and had never aloud anyone to rule her life completely, unlike himself. When he'd been under the employ of Mr. Joker he'd never once asked questions about what he was doing, however, he didn't regret that part of his life. In fact if it wasn't for him working for Mr. Joker he'd never had met Anita and probably never even met his mother, Nancy.

"Junior?" Anita said, studying him with a queer expression from the third to last step, as she wondered why he was staring at him with a small smile and a strange look of consideration on his young face.

"Yes?" he asked shaking his head lightly to clear it of his thoughts.

"Nothing." Anita said not wanting to know what he was thinking because she thought it was one none of her business and if he'd told her she'd probably not know how to react.

"Breakfast is ready!" Nenene called as she heard Anita and Junior talking in the other room.

"All right!" the both called out in unison, and stopped to look at each other for a moment.

"Anita, you go first." Junior stepped back so Anita could walk ahead of him.

"No." Anita shook her head as she spoke, walking up to stand beside him, taking his hand in her own. It felt warm to and soft against her own, not betraying him as the assassin he'd once been. Anita felt her cheeks begin to grown hot, but she didn't let go of his hand. When she looked up she found Junior looking at her with a shy surprised expression on his face, and the longer she watched she seen it melt into something she'd never seen on his face before. It was a mixture between what she could only describe as love and nervousness. She smiled at him in reassurance, knowing in that instant that she felt the same for him that he did her. "We can go together." she said softly, her voice never betraying her thoughts.

Junior could only nod, as he allowed Anita to lead the way to the Kitchen and the delicious smell of pancakes and sweet syrup. Junior felt his stomach rumble,making him realize he'd been hungry for quite some time now, and he looked over to see if Anita noticed it but if she had she was pretending she hadn't because she was leading him to two seats at the middle of the table with a plate heaped with pancakes in front of each. He felt her slide her hand gently out of his, and he was tempted to take it back, but didn't thinking it would be inappropriate, so he sat down at the first seat. Anita followed next, grabbing the syrup and milk from the middle of the table and getting things just the way she like them.

Junior felt himself smiling at her and took the syrup when she'd finished with it, and returning it to the center of the table before he grabbed the carton of Orange juice. He poured himself a glass and returned that too, before he began to eat, taking care not to look at Anita beside him.

"What's our fist plan of action?" Nenene, asked from around a mouthful of pancakes.

"Well we know who committed the theft, but not where he went. " Michelle declared sadly, face falling from cheery to crestfallen.

"Maybe we should begin by questioning the person who's book he stole?" Maggie suggested shyly.

"That's a good idea." Nancy encouraged, smiling pleasantly at everyone.

Yomiko nodded from behind her book, as she brought a bite of food to her mouth with the hand that wasn't holding her book.

"How can she do that?" Anita asked aloud, trying to see past the book to Yomiko.

"I don't know it seems to be a talent of hers." Junior piped in, as he too sought to see the secret behind Yomiko's strange and strangely useful talent.

"Well we could question all the second hand book shops as well. Anyone carrying old books of value." Nenene suggested with a shrug.

"That's a great idea!" Yomiko half yelled, putting her book down with a face full of supreme joy.

"Where not going to buy anything." Nenene said trying to make her point clear.

"Of course not!" Yomiko's said with mock surprise as she drew back from the table dramatically, with her fingers crossed behind her back.

"Yomiko are your fingers crossed behind your back?" Nancy asked, looking behind her trusted friend curiously.

Nenene glared at her dearest of friends and her reason for becoming a famous author. "This isn't a joke Yomiko! We need to catch this creep!"

"I know, but the books." Yomiko hung her head sadly, thinking of all the books in the stores that deserved a good home where they'd be read and taken care of.

"The books will be fine for now." Nenene half sighed, feeling bad for yelling at Yomiko, but she knew if she didn't make herself clear the whole store would no doubt be bought out, and thats when she remembered Michelle and her sister Maggie. "Same goes for you too!"

"AWH! I was hoping you didn't remember us." Michelle admitted sadly, sighing.

Maggie just nodded and said, "Okay."

After breakfast Anita was left to do the dishes while everyone else did there own thing. Junior had stayed with her insisting on helping. He wasn't much of a dish washer but he still wanted to help so Anita had him drying the dishes. It was a boring job but he seemed content with it. "Anita?" he asked.

"Yeah, Junior?"

He looked at her loosing courage to ask what he'd been really thinking as he dried his dish. He instead lifted the dish and asked, "Where does this go?"

"Oh up there in the cabinet. Be careful though Nenene likes everything in a certain order. " she warned.

"Okay.: he said as he cursed himself for not asking what he'd originally wanted to ask. He opened the cabinet to his left placing the dish in a dish holder on the inside with other dishes with the same pattern and size. He felt Anita gazing over his shoulder.

"Your better at that than me." she admitted with a small frown on her face. "The first time I did them Nenene chased me around the house asking me if I knew how to tell the difference between sizes and patters."

"I'm sorry." he said, hands falling to his sides because he wanted to take Anita's face in his hands and tell her that she was a smart girl, and he loved her. He swallowed hard and grabbed a some silverware to dry but he grabbed it too quick and it ended up on the floor with a loud clank.

He bent down to get it and at the same time so did Anita. They both ended up bumping their heads together and rising with their hands on top of their heads. "Ow!" Anita exclaimed with a small frown, as she looked up at Junior.

"I"m sorry, Anita!" he apologized, crossing the small distance between them and removing her hand from the top of her head to inspect where his had hit hers. There was a small bump but nothing too series but he immediately felt terrible for hurting her. "Does it hurt a lot?" he asked, absently stroking her hair.

"No..." Anita admitted body stiffening as he stroked her hair. She was afraid to move for fear she'd bring attention to herself. True she felt a little uncomfortable by what he was doing but she didn't think he realized it and she didn't want to hurt his feelings by making him think she didn't want him to touch her. Because that wasn't it. She cleared her throat to get his attention and he stopped turning away so fast Anita didn't know what was going on, until she seen him drying the rest of the silverware she'd washed, so she began to wash the remaining dishes. The continued for a fifteen more minutes in silence, finishing the dishes.

After the dishes everyone was finished too and they began to leave in twos, expect Nenene. Michelle, and Maggie, Yomiko and Nancy, and then finally Nenene walked out the door. It left Anita and Junior alone in the house without any instructions on how to help or anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Another short chapter and after such a long wait. Sorry to all of you who've been waiting so patiently for an update and after I had promised to write more as well. But technical difficulties can not be foreseen and neither can that of a hapless individual. So without further ado I give you Chapter Seven! I hope that you enjoy~

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Chapter 7

"I'm bored…" Anita announced as she lay with her head dangling off the couch and her feet in the air. Junior sat across from her on the floor looking at his hands. It had been almost an hour since the two of them had been left alone by the others and to Anita it felt like eternity.

"Why don't we do something then?" Junior proposed, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of providing some sort of idea of something for he and Anita to do. Normally it was Anita who came up with the ideas as to what they'd do, so he found this as a way to prove himself to her and show her that he could be fun as well.

"Like what?" Anita turned her body and landed on the floor beside her friend with a loud thump, rubbing her head and back side a slight frown on her face. Junior couldn't help but laugh a bit although he was concerned for her well being, however, he did not wish for a repeat of this morning to occur so he kept his hands in his lap.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…" Anita sighed and just let herself plop onto the floor on her back.

"Well maybe you know…" Junior started to speak looking at his hands in his lap. "Maybe we could help the others catch this thief?" he suggested as his eyes moved from his hands and to Anita who was staring up at the ceiling with a vacant look on her face. Her blue eyes seemed to be lost while her pink hair framed her face in a very flattering way. Unconsciously Junior reached out with one of his hands to smooth away a stray strand, and then Anita stirred.

He drew his hand away quickly, a deep pink blush tingling his cheeks as he mentally cursed himself. What had he been thinking? He was so foolish! To touch Anita so boldly! He swallowed hard and Anita looked over at him, blinking her eyes at him with her lips slightly parted.

"You mean like in the old days?" she asked unawares of her friends secret inner turmoil.

"Yeah, like old times." Junior replied in a soft whisper that made Anita regard him with even more curiosity. Her brows knit together ever so slightly as she sat up, folding her legs underneath her body.

"What's wrong with you?

"Nothing."

"No, there's something seriously up with you?" her lips curved down into a delicate frown and then she shoved her face in his. Junior let out a small wail and fell backward into the coffee table, his arms raised in front of his face as if he were trying to protect himself from an attack.

"No! No! No! I'm fine." he insisted his body quivering slightly from her nearness. He could not remember a time when her face had been so close to his that her lips had almost brushed his own. He swallowed hard as his heart raced in his chest.

Was he being foolish again? Should he have just kissed her and gotten it over with? What if she didn't like the way he was always apologizing for everything or how shy he was when it came to her? …Maybe she wanted a guy who was made of stronger stuff.

A sudden burst of laughter filled the near emptiness of the room and Junior jumped back again startled, his body pushing the coffee table behind him a foot or so. "What's so funny?" he asked as he fought to regain his composure.

"You are, silly!" Anita laughed some more. "You've been acting funny all morning and now you look like a lost puppy!" she stood up and offered Junior her hand. He looked at it for a long time before his reddish eyes slid from her hand and up to her smiling face.

She really was beautiful…

He licked his lips as he took her hand feeling another blush tinge his cheeks. Her hands was a bit smaller than his and it was so soft and warm. He resisted the urge to rub his thumb over the smooth skin between her thumb and forefinger as he stood next to her.

He had not meant for the next phrase to leave his mouth and ruin the moment but they came anyways, "I'm sorry.'

Anita didn't say anything in return she just smiled at him and disentangled her hand from his own as gently as she could blushing a bit herself. "It's alright, Junior. But how are we going to find someone we don't even know much about? Michelle, Nenene, Maggie, Yomiko, and your mother all know a bit more about this than either of us… Besides I thought we were in agreement that we'd only be in the way?"

Junior sighed and adverted his eyes to the floor. "Sorry I'd forg-" his words were cut short by a loud crack of thunder as a bolt of lightening lit up the sky outside, plunging the two of them into complete darkness.

"Damn storm!" Anita exclaimed through clenched teeth as her hand found Juniors and then the two of them turned to face each other. They could not make out much of each other in the darkness and thankfully so. Both were blushing like mad men and to top it off neither knew where to go from there.


End file.
